ACAM Integrative Medicine (IM) Blog

ACAM's Spring 2012 Education Summit

Join us this May 3 - 6, 2012 in beautiful San Diego for Integrative Medicine Education at its best!

 

 

6 Tips for Better Health

by John Gannage, MD

1. DRINK WATER. There is not a more important, or inexpensive, endeavor physically than replenishing our bodies of clean water. All of our systems require water to function optimally - our cells bathe in it, wastes and nutrients flow because of it, our detoxification systems rely on it, digestion is impaired without it. At times chronic headaches and low back pain are related to water deficiency. We are 80 % water in our physical makeup. Two litres per day for most people is required; or take your weight in pounds, divide by 2 and drink that amount in ounces (e.g. a 150 lb woman would drink 75 ounces daily).  I suggest avoidance of chlorinated drinking water. Re-mineralized reverse osmosis is a good choice. 

2. A SALAD A DAY. At my clinic I routinely conduct a diet review with all new patients. I consistently find, especially in patients that are chronically fatigued, chronically pained and/or chronically constipated that, not only is their water intake diminished, consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is much reduced. North American diets are horribly inundated with refined, packaged, nutrient poor foods, white flour and refined sugar. Eliminate these, and replace them with fiber, nutrient dense leafy greens and other vegetables. For those that have a challenge with gas and bloating from fruits and vegetables, a reasonable approach is to start with steamed vegetables. A useful intervention is digestive support, as with enzymes, during meals, and avoidance of food sensitivities. 

3. CHOOSE ORGANIC. Organic food has made its way into the marketplace for healthy reasons. Foods high on the food chain concentrate chemicals and hormones in their tissues, and yet we require many such foods for optimal nutrition balance. The dominance of hormones in our food supply accumulates progressively in our own tissues, leading to problems with reproductive tissue structure and function, and ultimately to the worst kind of pathology: cancer. Antibiotic use in livestock takes place at a huge cost to human health, affecting bowel flora balance and contributing to reduced effectiveness of antibiotics when required to fight life-threatening infections (i.e. antibiotic resistance). Organic food has been shown to possess 40% more nutrients than non-organic counterparts, since chemicals negatively impact soil richness. In Canada, our largest exposure to pesticides comes from our standard diet. One's greatest defense against environmental toxicity in general is nutrients. Our diets, therefore, must be sources of nutrients, not chemicals. 

4. PAY ATTENTION TO SYMPTOMS. Ignore, or worse suppress, symptoms at your own peril. Headaches, bloating, gas, fatigue, muscle pain, frequent colds, skin rashes and so on are all signs of an underlying disturbance calling out for correction, not mere suppression. Track symptoms, listen to your body, and learn to describe them in detail to a health provider who will listen. The greatest amount of information about one's health comes not from lab tests or scans, but from symptoms interpreted meaningfully. 

5. BE KIND TO YOUR LIVER. Sub-optimal liver function lies at the core of many medical symptoms. It is an organ with multiple roles, from detoxification, to digestion, to hormone metabolism, to regulator of circulation. Being kind to the liver means avoiding undue exposure to chemicals, both in the diet and around the household. It means paying attention to healthy intestinal function, thereby reducing bowel toxicity and autointoxication. It means using probiotics routinely, and other supplements, particularly antioxidants and herbs, that are therapeutically supportive to liver functions. It means understanding Eastern medicine concepts detailing the liver as an emotional organ, and its connection to anger. 

6. PRACTISE ACTIVE LIVING. Exercise has innumerable health benefits, for mood and sleep, for immune system strength, for cardiovascular function, for sweating and detoxification. A sedentary lifestyle is a choice for chronic medical conditions, and the options for inactive living are far too accessible. Computers, television and video games, combined with unhealthy snack foods and drinks, have assisted the development of our current pediatric obesity epidemic. Over 50 % of adult Ontarians are overweight and obesity is now recognized by experts as the second-leading preventable cause of death after cigarette smoking. For most of us, overweight or not, active living can also mean taking the stairs, raking the leaves, parking further away, or not driving at all. It is time to get back to active living, to get off the couch or desk chair, and to breathe some fresh air outdoors.

Free Integrative Medicine and Practice Development Webinars

ACAM member, Craig Koniver, MD, will be hosting a series of three Free Webinars about Integrative Medicine and Practice Development.

The topics will include:

-  How to create a extremely successful integrative medicine practice

-  All the nuts and bolts of running an integrative medicine practice

-  How to set up an integrative medicine practice

-  Fees to charge for labs, supplements, IVs, etc

-  How to use social media to your advantage

-   How to truly connect with your patients which is the key to bringing in revenue and creating positive change for each patient

-  And much more!

Part I will take place on Tuesday, Jan 24th at 8PM EST. Sign-up for the webinar at: http://4ac.am/xtJXEI.

Dr. Koniver completed his undergraduate work at Brown University in Rhode Island and graduated from medical school at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. His practice is Primary Plus Organic Medicine and is located in North Charleston, South Carolina. Learn more about Dr. Koniver and his practice at: www.organicmedicinenow.com

Integrative MD Opportunity in Ottawa, Canada

The Seekers Centre for Integrative Medicine invites family medicine and specialist physicians to join a group dedicated to the clinical practice of integrative medicine in Ottawa.  For more information please read 'Integrative Medical Doctor' at www.seekerscentre.com/careers

ACAM Welcomes New President and CEO Neal Speight, MD

Irvine, Calif -- The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) is pleased to welcome new President and CEO Neal Speight, MD.

Neal Spieght, MD will serve as the organization’s leader from 2012 to 2014. He follows in the footsteps of Eleanor Hynote, MD who has lead ACAM for the last two years.

"Dr. Speight has been a longtime member of ACAM and we are pleased to see him step into this new leadership role," said Rachel Weaver, Director of Education and Operations for ACAM.

Dr. Speight has been a member of ACAM for 14 years and has served on ACAM’s Board of Directors since 2000. His practice is in Matthews, North Carolina where he applies nutritional and environmental approaches in the treatment of his patients. Among the patients he sees are people suffering from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, depression, neurodegenerative diseases, hormone imbalances and lyme disease.

Dr. Speight did his undergraduate work in chemistry at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He attended medical school at East Carolina School of Medicine and completed his residency at University of South Carolina-Columbia. He is board certified in Family Medicine and has additional training in metal toxicology and integrative medicine. He is a member of the American Board of Family Medicine. Additionally, for five years he served as an assistant professor at Capitol University of Integrative Medicine in Washington, DC.  

About ACAM: The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) is a not-for-profit Organization dedicated to educating physicians and other health care professionals on the safe and effective application of integrative medicine. ACAM's healthcare model focuses on prevention of illness and a strive for total wellness.  ACAM is the voice of integrative medicine; our goals are to improve physician skills, knowledge and diagnostic procedures as they relate to integrative medicine; to support integrative medicine research; and to provide education on current standard of care as well as additional approaches to patient care.

Marketing Help for Integrative Practitioners

Are you looking for help to market your practice? Don’t know where to start? GetWellnessPatients.com can help!

GetWellnessPatients.com is an instant marketing system where all practice marketing is done for health care practitioners; from building your website, to search engine optimization (SEO), to social media. The system is completely customizable and there’s no work for you. Through a five-fold attack: SEO, website enhancement, social media, offline ads and an e-mail marketing system, GetWellnessPatients.com promises to take care of all your marketing needs for you.

GetWellnessPatients.com founder and President, Pat Necerato began in health care marketing by providing personal fitness consultations to health clubs. After helping various chains increase their membership numbers and rise to the top, Necerato decided to continue studying marketing and start his own business to help podiatrists, dentists, chiropractors, and now integrative physicians reach their marketing goals.

Perhaps you have a beautiful website with a high ranking on Google, but if it’s not bringing you new patients, it’s missing the mark. GetWellnessPatients.com uses lead generation tools to turn your traffic into actual leads. Not only do they capture the leads but through e-mail blasts they do the follow-ups for you too.

GetWellnessPatients.com has three different packages for you to choose from; Standard, Ultimate, and Premium. With the Standard package GetWellnessPatients.com will do your website and all your e-mail marketing for you. They’ll follow-up with leads, do your newsletter, and reactivation system, it’s a great place to start. The Ultimate package does all of that, but also includes extensive market research to get your SEO higher. GetWellnessPatients.com will look at the town you practice in and determine what residents there are searching for. For example are they looking for ‘holistic,’ ‘wellness,’ or ‘integrative?’ Once GetWellnessPatients.com determines the key words people are searching for, they then saturate your website with them. They will also get you higher rankings on about three search engines in addition to Google. With the Premium package you get even more. The market research is more extensive, not only do they study the city your practice is in, but they research the surrounding areas as well. This is a huge perk for integrative practitioners because the services you offer are life-changing and people are willing to travel great distances to receive these therapies. With the Premium package you will also be placed on about ten additional search engines, which will really get your rankings higher. Learn all about GetWellnessPatients.com by watching their 90 second demo video on the website at www.getwellnesspatients.com.

One New Jersey doctor began using GetWellnessPatients.com and without putting any work in himself immediately started receiving around two new patients a week. Another practitioner received 15 new leads in his first week of using the system, which turned into 10 new appointments, additionally earning him an extra $7000 in revenue. You may view all the testimonials at www.getwellnesspatients.com.

No matter what your specialty is GetWellnessPatients.com will help you customize a marketing system that will work for you. Call John Marrone with GetWellnessPatients.com at 1-888-857-2621 (ext. 1) and tell him you heard about the system from ACAM and receive 10% off your activation! John is familiar with ACAM physicians and is more than happy to personally consult you for all of your in house marketing.

Safety of Neti Pots Discussed

Dr. Allan Magaziner discusses the safety of neti pots on the Philadelphia NBC10 News.

 

 

Ten Practical Strategies to Improve the Health and Wellness of Your Family

by Jeffrey Morrison, MD

During the month of December and before the end of the year, let’s take this opportunity to appreciate the wonderful things we have in our life and consider modifying certain personal behaviors that may have adverse affects on our health. I am presenting you today with ten practical health-improving strategies for you to consider incorporating into your home and family life in 2012. Consider using this list as a home health inventory. Some of these suggestions are items to remove from your pantry, some are items to
add to your home, and some are to debunk nutrition myths. I hope that you find these strategies useful, helpful and above all, promoting health and wellness for you and your family.

Items to remove from your kitchen / home:

1. Plastic Bottles and plastic containers: Plastics are known endocrine disruptors, which means they interact with hormone receptors, possibly making a person more susceptible to precocious puberty or hormone related cancers. Food and liquid stored in plastic can absorb plastics during the heating process, which can occur when they are heated in a microwave oven or if they become hot in a car or storage container. Instead, store food and liquids in glass or ceramic containers. If you must use plastic, choose the ones with recycle numbers – 1, 2, 4 and 5

2. Aluminum or Teflon cookware: Aluminum is a metal that can leach into food during cooking. Aluminum has been associated with neurodegenerative conditions. Also, Teflon cookware is made from a Fluoride containing toxic chemical called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) that can leach into food when the surface is scratched. Consider cooking with cast iron, pyrex or stainless steel instead.

3. Canned Tuna: Tuna is a large predatory fish that is known to bio-accumulate mercury in its fat. Mercury is a known neurotoxin and causes autoimmune reactions. Replace tuna or canned tuna with canned Alaskan salmon.

4. Antibacterial soap: The main ingredient in antibacterial soap is triclosan, an endocrine disruptor and pesticide. Prolonged use of these soaps has been implicated in causing drug resistant bacteria and adding to hormone related health problems. Use glycerin or castile soap, both of which clean our skin very well.

5. Cool Mist humidifier: During the winter, ambient air humidity is low leading to a variety of irritating health conditions such as dry skin, dry sinuses and increased susceptibility to colds. Adding humidity to the air can be very helpful to prevent these conditions. Rather than using a cool mist humidifier, which is susceptible to mold, and bacterial growth, instead boil water or use a warm mist humidifier.

Items to add to your home:

1. Broad Leaf Plants: Plants are natural air purifiers and make attractive home decorations. Choose plants with the best air filtering affects, such as: peace lily, rubber plant, Boston fern, and weeping fig.

2. Water Filter: It is well known that New York City has very clean water at its source. By the time that water gets to your tap it has picked up sediment and heavy metals from pipes, as well as bacteria and parasites. Chlorine is added to the city water to kill the bacteria and parasites. An under sink or counter top water charcoal filter can help to remove a great deal of this unwanted contaminants.

Debunking nutrition myths:

1. Beef is bad for you? It is well known in nutritional science that when cows eat grains, which are not natural in their diet, the beef has very high levels of the inflammatory chemicals called arachidonic acid, which can contribute to heart disease. When cows are raised eating only grass, which is their natural diet, the beef has very low levels of arachidonic acid and levels of Omega-3 fatty acids that rivals Alaskan salmon. Grass fed beef can be a healthy part of your diet.

2. Egg Yolks are unhealthy? Chickens that are raised on grains, which are not in their natural diet, produce egg yolks high in arachidonic acid, which causes inflammation in our bodies. When chickens eat a diet that consists of seeds, bugs and even green plants, their eggs yolks are high in DHA, which is an omega-3 fatty acid and anti-inflammatory. You can tell a healthy egg yolk by its deep orange color and creamy taste.

3. Milk is essential for strong bones? While it is true that milk contains a good amount of calcium, about 250mg per cup, some adults and children are on a milk free diet due to dairy allergy. There are many other options to get calcium for people looking for non-dairy options. Some examples include: almonds, about 400mg per cup; Salmon, 360mg per 6 oz; dried figs, about 270mg per 10; and broccoli, about 178 mg per cup. Milk has been implicated in causing food allergies and rashes in children, so they do have non-dairy options to get their calcium.

I hope you have found this information useful. Please visit visit my website, www.morrisonhealth.com for more nutrition information and to follow my blog.

Jeffrey A. Morrison, M.D. is a practicing physician, founder of The Morrison Center and The Daily Benefit Program, an award-winning author of Cleanse Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and a leader in the field of Integrative Medicine. Visit, www.morrisonhealth.com to follow him on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, and watch his videos on YouTube.

Give to the ACAMef

Irvine, Calif -- The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) is currently fundraising to support the ACAM Educational Foundation, a 501 (c)(3), non-profit organization.

The Foundation was chartered on September 21, 2005, with the purpose of advancing integrative medicine through education and advocacy. Support for the organization comes by means of charitable donations from individuals, corporations, as well as volunteer efforts.

"Through the Foundation ACAM is able to provide integrative medicine research and offer medical students and residents with opportunities to learn about therapies and theories they may not learn in their conventional education settings," said Rachel Weaver, Director of Education and Operations for ACAM.

The income from endowments made to the Foundation is used to support the creation and dissemination of educational resources, professional development for physicians and licensed health care providers, public awareness, and other programs that enhance integrative medicine education.

Give to the ACAMef at www.acamnet.org/donate.

About ACAM: The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) is a not-for-profit Organization dedicated to educating physicians and other health care professionals on the safe and effective application of integrative medicine. ACAM's healthcare model focuses on prevention of illness and a strive for total wellness.  ACAM is the voice of integrative medicine; our goals are to improve physician skills, knowledge and diagnostic procedures as they relate to integrative medicine; to support integrative medicine research; and to provide education on current standard of care as well as additional approaches to patient care.

Impressions from Exchange 2011

by John Gannage, MD

Exchange2011 in Portland has come to a close, where ACAM and AAEM combined to stage the General Session of education for Integrative Medicine Practitioners like myself. With the medical conference concluded, these are the impressions I was left with, as I sit in the hotel lounge at the Marriott:

1. Nutrition has likely been argued over, say, since at least the Neolithic Revolution 8000BC. It’ll be debated for the next 10,000 years and beyond. Dr. McDougall and Dr. Morstein provided the evidence - he of the starch-based, high carb approach to nutrition, she of the low carb, lose-the-oatmeal-for-breakfast approach. Each was talking about the best “diet” to manage Type 2 Diabetes.  The audience of PRACTITIONERS was left fired up, some dazed and confused - imagine how the public feels. 
2. Fluoridation of the public water supply has to be one of the largest public health failures, not successes, of our time.  Just ask Dr. Paul Connett, PhD of the Fluoride Action Network, who gave a rousing presentation detailing the hazards.
3. Sweating out toxins is effective, as I’ve advocated, according to evidence provided by Stephen Genuis, MD of Alberta. His research shows excellent excretion of lead and cadmium especially. By exercise, sauna or hot yoga, do SWEAT the small stuff - to detoxify.
4. Dr. Paul Cannell, of the Vitamin D Council, provided strong epidemiological evidence that Vitamin D deficiency leads to a multitude of health problems. The clinical data, detailing the best way to intervene - delivery route, oral dose (if any), optimal blood levels, tissue levels - was lacking, and thus many questions remain for me about the efficacy and safety of high dose oral D supplementation. In 2005, my newsletter about Vitamin D pertained to sun exposure. I still maintain the fallback position is “what did nature intend?”, and that the issue is sunlight deficiency for many populations. Shouldn’t it be corrected that way?
5. Drs. Wright and Sherman provided the take-home recommendation about supplementation of the week for me: naicinamide for diabetes.  Berberine for diabetes was a close second, and from the Chelation workshop Dr. Mark Houston provided ample evidence making the case for ribose, EFA’s, carnitine, and COQ10 for heart patients.
6. Dr. Jeff Bland, PhD of IFM once again provides the inspiration and motivation, with a compelling philosophical, scientific, reductionist and holistic two hour presentation to kick things off early Friday morning. Dr. Bland had a profound influence on my career and education in the mid-1990’s, and continues to captivate while being on the leading edge of research and thinking.

So I’ll leave Portland tomorrow, with kudos to the organizers from ACAM and AAEM for a wonderful conference. A special thanks also to the folks at The Courtyard Marriott at Lloyd Center for their hospitality and gracious hosting. 


And the final word is this: eat a balanced, chemical-free diet; get adequate exercise, with sun going in and sweat coming out if you can; and manage stress for better health. Let’s not get bogged down too much in the details. Keep it simple, keep it fun.